Washington and its willing mouthpieces in the media have for years been trying to sell us the preposterous war in Afghanistan in the name of 'war on terror while trying to convince us that it is predicated on faultless military logic and moral wisdom. The war, though, remains a tragic misadventure, as it always was, with no discernable objectives despite a whole host of countries waging it with hordes of private contractors and all sorts of firms besidesall apparently in it to make a quick buck. The intellectual cowardice of some that pretend to buy the idea should not blind our majority to the fact that this war is as morally reprehensible as it is militarily un-winnable. No body in the world has ever defeated the Afghans in their mountainous land. The US decision to continue with its brutal military adventure in Afghanistan can only be understood in terms of its limited and highly selfish political logic. Let us start by ruling out some of the more ridiculous assumptions that have permeated the debate on this war since it began in 2001. First, we were told that the war was aimed at eliminating the Al-Qaeda. However, a retired CIA station chief who has served in the Middle East and as chief of the counterterrorism staff has claimed that Al-Qaeda is finished in Afghanistan. He has further argued, The Obama administration, like its predecessor, claims we are fighting terrorism there. That is simply not true. It is a pure counterinsurgency issue. The insurgency is the result of anti-Muslim, indeed anti-Islam, war of the US which began with criminal intervention in Islamic countries. Even the most ardent war hawks are exerting little effort to delineate the link between Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Over the years, the militants have been pushed into the northern areas of Pakistan, deliberately dragging us into the war so that the US can also enter territory in their hot pursuit. -TABISH KHAN AFRIDI, Akora Khattak, March 4.